Rewards in heaven

Luke 6:23, 35 (NASB)

“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven……."But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great”

I have been re-reading the Erwin Lutzer book Your Eternal Reward (Moody Press, 1998).  It is powerful reading.  Even though I have taught and written on the Judgment Seat of Christ (II Corinthians 5:10), I was especially struck this time by the following words on page 17 of this book:  “Christ often and unapologetically motivated the disciples with the prospect of rewards.  He often promised them that if they were sacrificially obedient, their reward will be great” (and quoted Luke 6:35, Luke 6:23, and Hebrews 10:35).   When each Christian is judged individually by Christ for everything done on earth, he/she will receive rewards for all the good you have done, but also great loss for all the evil you have done.  Yes, because of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and your accepting by faith his sacrifice for you, your confessed sins are forgiven, BUT God still judges you for those sins that have been confessed and forgiven.  As Lutzer points out, “judicial forgiveness is one thing, but the discipline the Father inflicts on His wayward children is quite another.  We should not conclude that every Christian will do well at the judgment seat of Christ.  We can suffer serious loss; many Christians will stand in shame before Christ as we see our lives pass before us.  What happens at the judgment seat can have permanent consequences.  There are degrees of reward in heaven.”

You really need to read the entire book and all the Scripture that Dr. Lutzer uses to teach about the judgment seat of Christ.  What I took away from this reading is the following:

·  I had misconceptions about sin in my life after conversion.  While my sin is always forgiven when I confess it, I will still be judged for that sin on Judgment Day.  My sins will not kick me out of heaven, but they will affect what I will be doing in heaven forever.

·  Likewise, the more good I do while on earth, the more rewards I will receive compared to losses.  The exact nature of reward vs loss is not clear to me, but I know that I want to receive more reward than loss, whatever they are, and the only way for this to happen is to minimize sin and maximize obedience.

·  The fact that Christ Himself emphasized rewards in heaven, as Luke 6:23 and 35 (and elsewhere) proclaim, strikes me more significantly that in the past when I’ve studied these verses before.  We should not take lightly His emphasis on rewards and should orient our Christian lives better to seek these rewards in eternity.

When Jesus is talking about rewards in heaven, it is always in the context of sacrificially doing something good for someone else.  As you show love “to the least of these” you show love to Jesus and are reaping rewards.  As you are being persecuted for taking a stand for Christ, you are reaping rewards.  As you are love others, especially those who you know don’t love you, and giving of your time and money to help others, you are reaping rewards.  Conversely, if you are doing the opposite, putting your needs first, not helping or loving others, hoarding your riches for yourself without giving to help others, and anything else that shows selfish behavior, you will experience loss on judgment day.

Examine your life as it stands right now and determine what you are doing that will reap rewards in heaven and what you are doing that will reap loss in heaven.  Basically evaluate how you are using the three basic forces of your life---your time, your energy, and your money.  At the Judgment Seat of Christ someday, each of us, individually, in front of witnesses, will face the Lord and be judged for how we used our time, energy and money.  Think carefully about this and make necessary changes if necessary.